.In 1853 AD, Huaiqing, Henan, this was a not-so-large prefecture, but a major commercial port and a place that can be regarded as a battleground for military strategists.

The harsh sun of July hangs in the sky, burning the earth motionlessly. There is no cloud in the sky, and there is no trace of wind. The trees seem to be exhausted, hanging down their branches, and the leaves are sad and helpless, just like endless sighs.

There was no figure in the streets and alleys of Huaiqing Prefecture City, just the originally homeless stray dogs, who were hiding in the shade, lying deep in all limbs, and spitting out their long tongues sleepily, beating the annoying flies that were constantly provoking themselves.

However, the south gate and the west gate were completely different. The yellow dust trampled on by thousands of troops covered the sky and closed the sun. The Taiping soldiers with their lips and yellow turbans wrapped in yellow turbans opened their blood-red eyes, and used their throats that had already been broken, and they were almost hysterical. They carried the long ladder and rushed to the city wall again.

On the city wall, the cracks on the lips of the governor Yu Bingtao Huaiqing had already formed into blood eggs, and his eyes were covered with blood. He could no longer remember how many attacks the long-haired people had.

Since the seventh day of this month, the city was trapped, and the crazy attacks seemed to have almost never stopped. He had been struggling to hold on, hoping that the reinforcements sent by the court would arrive immediately, so he would not be able to hold on.

When another group of wealthy merchants and wealthy merchants in the city gathered, holding various weapons and reinforced them to the city, Yu Bingtao danced the machete in his hand and shouted at the wealthy merchants and wealthy merchants: "You have done a good job, and I want to tell everyone that once the old men break the city, those with families and businesses will suffer!" His voice was hoarse. He didn't know how to dance with a knife and stick, and his posture of waving the machete seemed a little funny.

"Sir, we have raised a lot of silver. As the military pay for the guards of the city, we can take as long as we can defend the city, we will get as much as we pay." Zhang Mingli, the richest man in Huaiqing, waved his head at the butler behind him and said to Yu Bingtao, "Sir, I asked my family to cook a lot of mung bean soup and bring it up. You can drink some to relieve the heat. When the long hairs are killed, there is also a delicious lunch for the soldiers to prepare."

Looking at the steaming bowl of soup in the butler of the Zhang family, Yu Bingtao did not go to pick it up. He turned his head and looked at the long-haired soldiers who were rushing up along the ladder on the city wall. Suddenly, the thought flashed in his mind, "Hurry up, pour the hot soup on the ladder, I want to water these bandits to death!"

Lin Fengxiang, deputy prime minister of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army, ignored the persuasion of the people on both sides and the solid bronze body, and carried a big sword with dazzling cold light in the sunlight, and immediately commanded the attack on the city wall at the range of an arrow from the city wall. The arrows shot like raindrops on the city fell around him, and the card knife hands following him fell from time to time, without blinking. He stared at the holy soldiers who set up the ladder and bravely climbed the city.

This peasant general who has been 50 years old and trained in more than two years of war is not only famous for his ability to fight in the Heavenly Army, but also a kind elder who loves soldiers as much as his son. Faced with the casualties of his subordinates, each of them made his heart tremble and bleeding. But he couldn't stop now.

After swearing to the Northern Expedition on May 8, he and his brave holy soldiers created a brilliant record that swept across more than a dozen prefectures and counties in northern Anhui.

After entering Henan, he first conquered Guide Prefecture. He originally planned to cross the Yellow River north and go straight to the Qing Dynasty's nest Beijing. Unexpectedly, his strategic intention was guessed by Qingting, so he had to give up his original plan and go west along the Yellow River. Although he had won many cities, he also failed to attack Kaifeng without defeat. When the entire army finally crossed the Yellow River from Sishui and Gongxian County, the food and fodder began to be scarce.

In order to obtain necessary supplements, he discussed with the local official prime minister Li Kaifang and the deputy prime minister of Chun official Ji Wenyuan and decided to conquer Huaiqing Mansion at all costs.

What he never expected was that a mansion with only more than 2,000 green camp soldiers would block his more than 20,000 troops under the city for more than ten days.

Looking at the brothers on the ladder who were poured down by the hot water poured from the pot, his thick black eyebrows moved.

"Retreat, you can't let your brothers just go hungry and then continue to fight." He advised himself in his heart.

"Prime Minister, the reinforcements of the Qing Yaotou Shengbao are approaching here," a cavalry rushed to Lin Fengxiang's side, wiping his face full of sweat and reporting quickly, "Prime Minister Li Kaifang, please immediately withdraw your troops and return to the market to discuss countermeasures."

"Oh!" Lin Fengxiang sighed helplessly and looked at the high city wall in front of him resentfully.

Lin Fengxiang didn't even look at the simple food placed in the central army tent. The hot weather and the boredom made his face look extremely ugly.

Looking at Lin Fengxiang who was swaying his big palm fan with no word in his voice, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan who had just arrived looked at each other. Li Kaifang took the sweat towel handed by the card knife hand, and wiped the sweat while hesitating: "Brother Lin, there is a strong city in front and a surrounded soldier behind him. Should we abandon the sharpness of the Qing demon here first?"

He and Lin Fengxiang are considered old partners. Since breaking through Yong'an City, as Lin Fengxiang's assistant, the two have always served as pioneers of the Tianjun. He is twenty years younger than Lin Fengxiang, and he has both brotherly friendship and respect for Lin Fengxiang.

"No," Lin Fengxiang shook his head decisively, "There are few towns nearby like Huaiqing that are rich in grain and rice. Without grain and rice, we cannot implement our established plans."

"Then we will have to fight in two groups." Ji Wenyuan muttered.

"Yes," Li Kaifang pondered, "Brother Lin, our entire army can't stand the death attack on Huaiqing. If we deal with it in two lines, it will be even harder to say."

Lin Fengxiang stopped the fan in his hand, "I think Huaiqing has been besieged by us for more than ten days, and the loss of Qing Yao, which was originally limited in the city, will not be small. As long as we can cut off the connection between Shengbao and the city, we will not ask reinforcements to enter the city, there will still be hope of breaking the city." As he said that, he looked at Li Kaifang with a kind of trust and expectation.

Hearing Lin Fengxiang say this, Li Kaifang did not hesitate at all. He nodded vigorously, "Okay, I will immediately move my troops to block Shengbao's reinforcements, and promise not to ask Shengbao's soldiers and soldiers to enter Huaiqing City."

Lin Fengxiang smiled and threw away the big palm fan in his hand, "Forget it, I'll deal with this demon head. You and Wen Yuan will continue to attack the city."

"Okay," Ji Wenyuan nodded, "In addition, we should send a letter to the King of Dong, asking the King of Dong to arrange reinforcements as soon as possible. If it continues, Qing Yao will mobilize more people to stop us from attacking the capital."

Lin Fengxiang picked up the pen on the table and hesitated for a moment, "From the actual situation where we tried to cross the Yellow River and go straight to Shandong without success, if we still follow the prior arrangement and wait for us to conquer the Tianjin Tianchao, it would be difficult to achieve the expected goal. Obviously, since the Qing Yao has understood the purpose of our march, we will inevitably block the Yellow River. Therefore, if the Tianchao can send reinforcements, it is better to send troops as soon as possible."

"It's hard!" Li Kaifang sighed, "Think about it carefully, even I can't think of where to draw reinforcements from."

"Oh," Lin Fengxiang threw down his pen and picked it up again, "I think it would be better to write a letter to His Highness the King of Wing at the same time to state our views. I am worried that in order to launch reinforcements, the King of Dong would give up Zhenjiang and Yangzhou. In that case, the city we conquered with our lives will be lost again."

"I think Brother Lin might just say it," Ji Wenyuan stretched out a finger and smiled bitterly. "The only people who can still be used are those who stay in Zhenjiang and Yangzhou."
Chapter completed!